Tyron Woodley is early UFC 228 betting favorite over Darren Till but not by much

Gallery

Photos: Best of Tyron Woodley

Tyron Woodley is getting some respect from oddsmakers as UFC champion heading into his welterweight title fight against Darren Till, but is he getting enough?

In the wake of an injury to interim welterweight champion Colby Covington, the UFC on Tuesday booked a fight between undisputed champ Woodley (18-3-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) and top contender Till (17-0-1 MMA, 5-0-1 UFC) for UFC 228 on Sept. 9 at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

The matchup is a clash of styles, with Woodley bringing a wrestling background against Till’s noted striking expertise. The title shot is coming sooner than expected for the 25-year-old Till, but the Brit has a decent shot at claiming gold, according to initial odds.

Related

Nick Kalikas of MMAOddsBreaker.com has opened the line at -165 for Woodley and +135 for Till. With those odds, a winning $100 bet on Woodley would net a profit of $60.61 (implied win probability of 62.3 percent). A winning $100 bet on Till, meanwhile, would garner a profit of $135 (42.6 percent win probability).

Here’s what Kalikas had to say about the title bout:

“This is a modern day wrestler vs. a striker matchup. Woodley has added some power striking to his wrestling, while Till is an unorthodox and physically imposing striker. As much as Woodley has improved his striking, his best path to victory is to utilize his wrestling and try to take this fight to the canvas. Till will want to keep this fight upright and land powerful combinations. Till is a younger, hungry southpaw, but Woodley has faced dangerous strikers already and is more proven and experienced. As long as Woodley is healthy, he deserves to be the favorite.”

As a measuring stick, consider each fighter’s results against common opponent Stephen Thompson. Neither Woodley nor Till put together spectacular performances against Thompson.